He Lets Me Braid His Mane
by kuroi-hagane
Summary: Parker is bored and Eliot just happens to be the one person she can bug at the moment.
1. Boredom

**A/N:** Okay, I just joined the twitter community to, basically, follow my favorite stars right now – Beth, Christian, Aldis, and Tim…Reading through Beth's tweets, I found this:

"_Ooooh! guess who I got on twitterrrrr? *hint* name rhymes with wayne, he lets me braid his mane....."_

I suddenly had the urge to write a fic purely inspired by this rhyme! Enjoy y'all…

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Leverage and its cast…Got the title from Beth's rhyme, so do not own that either…Tee~hee…

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Parker is bored.

They didn't have a job for two weeks now and there isn't any museum to rob. No shipments of diamonds to intercept. No banks (worthy of her attention) to rob. She isn't up for a little trip outside the country either, as Sophie is doing now. Apparently, the grifter is in Paris for the culminating of the Fashion Week. Parker can't understand that though. What is so great about sitting for hours watching women walking to and fro the catwalk?

She tried her luck with Hardison. Maybe he would want to do something with her. She'll even endure long hours of watching his favorite sci-fi movies if he wants to. But, as luck would have it, Hardison is in Los Angeles for some kind of convention. Parker doesn't want to be in those kinds of things either – being with so many people, squishing with each other, talking nonsensical things. What is there to discuss about things that don't exist anyway?

She would have gone to Nate, if Sophie had not taken him to Paris.

So that leaves Eliot, which is why she is now in his doorsteps, trying to figure out if she would pick the lock, go in through the windows, or ring the doorbell (like Sophie would always tell her whenever she visits her, something about respecting other people's privacy and home). She decided that she would do the latter considering this is Eliot. The guy has the shortest temper. Plus, if she does something "respectful", he might agree to do something with her.

So Parker rang the doorbell – once, twice, thrice, twelve times? She lost count.

She grinned, though, when Eliot finally opened the door with his typical Eliot face – his grouchy face.

"Did I interrupt you?" She asked innocently.

"Geez Parker, what gave you that idea? Is it the fact that I took a damn long time answering the door, or my state of undress?" Eliot said, almost shouting.

Parker, just noticing his state of undress, smiled unabashedly. She finally took in Eliot's wet hair, water droplets dripping in his chest down, down, to his towel-clad waist.

"Ooops. Would you have preferred that I pick the lock or went in the window so I had not disturbed you?"

Eliot looked at her, not believing what she had just suggested. But then again, this is Parker he's dealing with – the girl who doesn't have a clue on what it is to be normal. He just shook his head and threw his well-used line when dealing with Parker,

"There's something wrong with you."

Parker just grinned at him. They stood in his doorway for a few more seconds, Eliot forgetting his state because he is more curious to know Parker's motive for visiting him. As far he knows, there is no job, since most of the members of the team are out of the state. He was brought out of his musings though, when he noticed Parker's eyes. There was that gleam whenever she's thinking or doing something crazy. Finally realizing what – or rather who – Parker's eyes are trained to, he suddenly felt a tingle in his spine.

Clearing his throat and staying as composed as a half-naked man in front of a crazy thief could be, he asked,

"Is there any reason why you came here Parker?"

Peeling her eyes away from the drop of water she's following, she answered quite jovially,

"Oh yes. I'm actually here to see if maybe you, uh, want to hang-out…with…me…?"

Eliot noticed that her voice sounded unsure during the end. There was a prick in his heart when he heard her shy voice coupled with the way she suddenly ducked her head and the way she nervously played with the hem of her shirt. He couldn't help but let the thief in. He stepped aside and, grinning, invited her in,

"I don't know about you darling, but I want to finish my bath sometime this day. So either you come in or go home so that I can finally close this door."

Parker looked up at him; quite unbelieving that Eliot – their grouchy, lone wolf Eliot – would actually let her hang out with him. She rewarded him with a big smile as she went inside the room, literally bouncing in her feet.

Eliot just shook his head and followed her inside. He couldn't help the smile that's threatening to break into his face as he watched her bounce her way to the living room. As he closed the door, he thought that maybe hanging out with Parker wouldn't be bad after all.

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_(4 September '09, 4:00 am)_

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Wow! I was supposed to write a one-shot fic about Eliot letting Parker braid his hair…But it turned out like this…Don't know yet how long this will be…But definitely (hopefully), there will be more…Hahaha….

It has been a long time since I last wrote a fanfic…Used to write under some anime fandoms but pulled them out years ago…Why? I forgot the reason why I pulled them out…Oh yeah, something about growing up and stopping myself from" wasting" my time reading fanfics…But then, I realized my passion in writing started because of the joy and inspiration I got from reading other people's work…So why deny myself of that hobby? Just so long that I would not let it out of control. (I used to spend hours, like a whole day, JUST reading fics. Not very productive, especially if I have to do some chores, projects, assignments, etc.)

We'll see how this fic will turn out, okay? I am not promising a quick update, especially since I have a thesis proposal to pass, which is due next week. (I am still half-way through.) I will treat this one as my "brain-jumper."

Anyway, not considering the title, I believe that this can stand alone on its own. Don't you think? So I'll post this one up as complete…Just so I will not be pressured into finishing this one. My track record of multi-chapter fics/stories has not been promising, you see….

Thank you for reading this one. Finally, I got to write something decent with my favorite Leverage couple! =)


	2. Animal Shaped Cookies

A/N: Thank you so much for y'all who read my fic...Special thanks to those who spared little of their time to leave a few words...Thank you also for those who added this story on their Story Alert, and for adding me on their Author Alert. Lastly, thank you for you, who added this story on your Favorite Story List! =)

The inspiration for this one came from the last scene of the Three Day Hunter Job, when Eliot held out a cucumber - at least, I think it was a cucumber - to Parker and then Parker leaned forward to eat it right from Eliot's hands! (Tee~hee)

Well, I hope you'll find this enjoyable as well...Let me thank you in advance! (n_n)

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Eliot is watching a special edition of the National Geographic channel featuring the "World's Greatest Scenic Routes" with half a mind. The other half is busy contemplating on why he had let Parker in his house and agreed to "hang-out" with her.

Sure, the team sometimes meets up and does something that doesn't involve stealing, conning, and head-bashing; however, those times are spent with the _whole_ team. He may have gone with Hardison and Nate sometime last month to watch a hockey game live. He may also had been badgered by Sophie to let her take him into one of those high-end boutique shops in New York sometime last year; but then again, that is for a con – something about needing a newly-tailored suit. Now that he thought about it, he had never really been alone with Parker outside of a job.

He had enough trouble dealing with and tolerating her when they are in the same room. And now that they were alone, he had no idea just how to interact with her.

He was brought out of his musings when he heard a loud sigh coming from his left.

"What?" He asked Parker, with almost a hint of annoyance.

Parker frowned, hearing the annoyance in Eliot's voice. However, her frown was replaced by a pout as she faced him.

"Nothing. It's just that I'm bored. And I wanted to hang out with you because I thought that maybe it will help me stop being bored. But watching this," she emphasized by pointing at the television that now has a view of mountains somewhere in Texas, "is not taking away my boredom!"

Eliot regarded her calmly. "Well darling, you said you wanted to hang-out with me. This is what I am in the mood for. So unless you're willing to endure an hour more of watching with me, then I guess you just have to go find something else to take that boredom away."

Parker crossed her arms and turned back to watching the TV. Eliot glanced at her and saw that she was wearing the patented Parker _I-hate-this-but-I-got-to-do-it-anyway-because-they-said-I-have-to_ face. Her eyes are squinting at the TV, probably willing it to burn spontaneously. She would huff out small breaths at intermittent times with her bottom lip sticking out. Hiding the smile that was threatening to come, he took a swig of his beer.

After exactly an hour since their conversation, Parker asked him, quite enthusiastically, "you cook right?"

"Parker, I—"

"I watched with you for an hour and you said that I just have to be willing to endure an hour more of watching, right? So now, we get to do what _I_ want." She challenged, but then, at the same time, her voice sounded hopeful.

Eliot shook his head lightly. She did sit quietly (aside for the occasional sighs and huffs), watching the show. Trying to humor her, he asked, "what do you have in mind then?"

Eliot suddenly wanted to take his question back when he saw the maniacal grin Parker's wearing. But, he stayed strong and tried to act like it did not bother him at all.

He was drinking his beer when Parker, quite gleefully, answered, "I want to eat elephants, dolphins, pandas, and cute bears!"

He choked on his beer and ended up spitting some of it on the floor.

"The hell Parker?! What is wrong with you?" Eliot asked while he grabbed a dry towel to absorb the liquid and a wet towel to wipe the stickiness off.

Parker, not understanding why Eliot reacted the way he reacted, tilted her head sideways and asked naively, "what do you mean?"

Eliot barked at her, "Parker, you don't just tell someone you want to eat an elephant, a dolphin, a panda, and a freaking bear! Most of which are endangered species, by the way! What's wrong with you?"

"Huh? But I saw this movie, and this kid is eating all kinds of animals – even elephants and bears. They all seem delicious. I just want to try one. They even have pretty colors and cute faces!"

Eliot tried very hard not to laugh, which ended up as a choked grunt. Parker glared at him, not too pleased with being made fun of. That did him. He laughed.

_The greatest thief in the world wanted to eat animal-shaped cookies with pretty colors and cute faces!_

After a few seconds, he calmed himself down and tried to appease Parker.

"Okay darling, I'll bake – _not cook _– them for you. But, for future references, these are animal-shaped cookies, okay?"

Parker, realizing that Eliot is giving her pointers on how to act normal, gave him a big smile and chirped, "oh, okay."

Standing up, she motioned for Eliot to do the same.

"So, are we going to bake now?"

Eliot stood up and grabbed his jacket and keys.

"Not yet. We have to buy some ingredients first, and then we will bake."

Parker followed Eliot with a, somewhat, wistful smile on her face.

No one has ever treated her like Eliot. Sure, he always looks at her like she was crazy, and most of the time, he keeps on telling her that there is something wrong with her. When the team is together, it seemed like he'd rather be with all the others than be with her.

He doesn't talk to her about normal stuff, outside their line of job. Not like Hardison who tries to educate her on "geek" stuff like sci-fi and role-playing games or at times, share about his Nana and his time growing up. Nor did Eliot takes the time to teach her about how it is to act normal, or tell stories about her trysts and adventures on different con jobs like Sophie does.

But then again, every time their doing a job, whether they have to do a recon, or the two of them are doing the stealing, she just get the feeling that even though she has a tendency to be crazy and be a little spontaneous on the job, Eliot still believes that she will complete the job no matter what. He acknowledges her expertise, even consulting with her at times. And she just knows that whenever the two of them are out on their own during a job, Eliot would never leave her and he always has her back.

And now, he agreed to bake something for her. No one has ever done that before. She was extremely giddy that she got to experience another side of Eliot.

She walked briskly to catch up with the retrieval specialist. When she was finally walking side by side him, she playfully tugged his hair. Eliot raised his eyebrow silently questioning her, but she just stuck her tongue out and ran to the car, whilst giggling.

She can't wait to eat the animal-shaped cookies that Eliot will bake for her!

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_7 September 2009. 3:00 am_

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